In a process using vertical agitation reactors as disclosed in "Polycarbonate Resin", page 66, published by Nikkan Kogyo Shinbun, a larger number of agitation reactors are required for continuous production with increasing scale of the facility, rendering the process uneconomical.
From the viewpoint of a model for perfect mixing vessels ganged together in series as an economical apparatus structure, it is effective to use horizontal agitation reactors capable of providing a large number of such perfect mixing vessels.
A spectacle rim-formed polymerization apparatus as disclosed in Fig. 2.49 (b), C1-43, C Engineering section, of Mechanical Engineering Handbook, is a continuous agitation reactor, which can provide ideal extrusion flow characteristics, that is, a large number of perfect mixing vessels as ganged together in series, but the highly viscous liquid, when treated therein, tends to attach to the surface of the agitator center shaft and reside thereon with increasing liquid viscosity. That is, no sharp residence time distribution function curve can be obtained. Its mode is shown by a delta response curve in FIG. 8, which is based on test data on relations between the number of model vessels for perfect mixing vessels as ganged together in series and the residence time distribution function. In the spectacle rim-formed polymerization apparatus, deviation from the theoretical curve occurs around the point where the dimensionless number of time, t/to, exceeds 1.3. This means that a portion of the liquid resides in the dead zone of agitation, resulting in a problem of polymer quality deterioration.